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La Scala Performs Verdi's Very First Opera

MILAN — Teatro alla Scala raised eyebrows in December when it opened its season with “Lohengrin” in observance of Wagner’s bicentennial rather than an opera by Verdi, who was also born in 1813. In the months since, however, the theater has redressed the balance with new productions of four Verdi operas, most recently his very first opera, “Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio.”

“Oberto” and its immediate successor, the comedy “Un Giorno di Regno,” are generally considered warm-up exercises for the triumph of Verdi’s third opera, “Nabucco.” Yet they all had their premieres at La Scala, in itself a badge of distinction, and “Oberto” has a libretto by Temistocle Solera, an able writer who went on to collaborate with Verdi on other operas.

His libretto for “Oberto” has themes Verdi would take up again, in most cases with more flair: a father-daughter relationship, a tenor unfaithful in love, a stain on the family honor, a lust for revenge, the bond of friendship.

The opera is set in 13th-century Italy amid friction between the feudal lord Ezzelino da Romano (unseen in the opera) and his defeated enemy, the count Oberto, which takes on a personal dimension when Riccardo, Count of Salinguerra, seduces and abandons Leonora, Oberto’s daughter.

Oberto’s return to his native soil after banishment brings him gratification, but his overriding concern is to expunge the dishonor brought upon the family name, for which he holds Leonora in part responsible for yielding to Riccardo.

Despite the peculiarities of Mario Martone’s production, “Oberto” makes a better impression here than it did when I last heard it, in a Paris concert performance two years ago.

The first of its two acts, in which characters are given stock introductions but Leonora gains an ally in Riccardo’s fiancée, Cuniza, is largely unremarkable, though well-crafted and charged with a typically Verdian rough energy. But Act Two has several arresting numbers, including a friendship duet, which begins tensely as Cuniza, appalled by Riccardo’s alleged conduct, demands assurance of Leonora’s good faith, then proceeds in mellifluous thirds and sixths in the vocal parts signifying solidarity between the women.

Photo

A scene from La Scala’s new production of ‘‘Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio,’’ often considered a warm-up exercise for the triumph of Verdi’s third opera, ‘‘Nabucco.’’Credit
Brescia-Amisano/Teatro alla Scala

A quartet that individualizes the emotional states of the characters is particularly fine: Cuniza has persuaded Riccardo to go back to Leonora, which delights the latter, but Riccardo and Oberto surreptitiously plan to proceed with a duel instigated by Oberto. After Oberto is killed offstage by Riccardo, the opera closes with a powerful aria-finale in the mode of Donizetti (not the only time the earlier composer’s influence is felt) for the despairing Leonora, who blames herself for her father’s death.

Sergio Tramonti’s set is a grand and striking sight: a luxuriously appointed two-level interior predominantly red and gold like the auditorium itself, with a connecting staircase and marble columns.

But questions arise as soon as the music begins. The knights, ladies and vassals who enter Ezzelino’s castle are dressed informally, even scruffily, in modern attire, looking radical but not chic. You wonder whether a commune has taken over the elegant quarters. Some people carry machine guns. Two dead bodies (we know not whose) are brought in during the first scene. Surrounding grounds, seen later, bear signs of strife and ruin, including an overturned car.

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The clash between Oberto and the forces of Ezzelino is apparently reduced to gang rivalry. Moreover, the updating is at odds with the stern morality exemplified by Oberto, although Mr. Martone’s decision to have Leonora appear visibly pregnant does intensify the circumstances that cause Oberto’s distress.

The thoughtfully reflective sentiments expressed by the male chorus in Act Two, however, seem out of place coming from the mouths of hooligans. And did we really have to witness an automobile bringing Oberto’s body onstage for the final scene?

Musically, though, it is a pleasure to encounter an all-Italian cast of strong and well-balanced singers. Michele Pertusi’s bass-baritone could be more robust but well serves the singer’s conception of Oberto as a brooding presence single-mindedly intent on righting a wrong. The rising soprano Maria Agresta is being kept busy by the year’s Verdi festivities; here her gleaming voice is heard to vivid effect in Leonora’s music, particularly incisive in the moments of confrontation and her desolate final aria.

As Cuniza, the excellent bel-canto mezzo Sonia Ganassi sings warmly in expressing support for Leonora and deals handsomely with the Donizetti-like coloratura that characterizes her goodwill. The tenor Fabio Sartori, a big man with a big voice, gives a forthright portrayal of Riccardo that reaches its high point in his final aria of remorse. The conductor Riccardo Frizza’s vital reading benefits from steadfast respect for the score and an ear sympathetic to what Verdi sought to achieve.

This is La Scala’s third production of “Oberto” since its 1839 premiere, others having occurred in 1951 and as recently as 2002. It demonstrates that the company’s faith in the opera is not misplaced, even if the Verdi operas that followed have left it largely in the dust.